Wallet with auxiliary or secret billfold



Jan. 11, 1949. s. KNEE 2,458,711

WALLET WITH AUXILIARY OR SECRET BILLFOLD 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fiied Jan. 5,1946 INVENTOR.

.A ORNEY I WALLET wzm AUXILIARY on swam mmmoma Fil'e'd Jan. 5, 1946 2Sheets-Sheet 2' V [NVEN TOR.

ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 11, 1949 WALLET WITH AUXILIARY on SECRET BILLFOLDSimon Knee, Newark, N. J.

Application January 5, 1946, Serial No. 639,168

This invention relates to wallets and similar orother-pocket-containers.

The primary object of the present invention is the provision of a walletor other container having a pocket in which a holder for paper money orother papers is removably positioned, and said holder, when positionedin the wallet pocket, being in folded condition and when removed fromsaid pocket being unfoldable to a fiat condition or to the full lengthof the holder. Further in accordance with the present invention, theholder, when positioned in the wallet pocket, serves as dividing orpartitioning means to form a plurality of compartments in the pocket insuch relation to the pocket opening that access may be had to any ofsaid compartments through the pocket opening. Further, in accordancewith this invention, the pocket and the holder are preferably providedwith a slide fastener which, in the closed condition thereof, closescertain of said compartments at the pocket opening, and which, in thereleased or open condition thereof affords access to said compartmentsthrough the pocket opening.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will be fully understood from the following descriptionconsidered in connection with the accompanying drawings, it beingunderstood that said drawings are to be taken as illustrative of theinvention and not in limitation thereof.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side View of a wallet embodying the present invention, thewallet being illustrated as of the foldable type and shown in itsunfolded or flat condition, and the foldable holder being shown partlyremoved from the companion wallet pocket;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing the foldable holder removedfrom the companion wallet pocket and unfolded for access to the contentsof said holder;

- Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showingthe foldable holdercompletely within the companion wallet pocket;

Fig. 4 is a side view of the holder separated from the wallet;

Fig. 5 is an end view of the holder;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view on the line 6+6 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view on the line I'I of Fi 3;

Fig. 8 is a top edge view of the wallet in the folded condition thereof.

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary end perspective view of the wallet as seen fromthe left of Fig. .2.

2 Claims. (Cl. 150-36) Referring now to the drawings in detail, thepresent invention is illustrated as embodied in a container here shownas a foldable wallet, said wallet being of the type which comprises theopposed walls I0 and I2 stitched or otherwise secured to each other at atransverse edge as indicated at I4 and at their longitudinal edges asindicated at I6, defining a pocket having a top opening as indicated atI8 (Fig. 6) and an end opening as indicated at 20 (Fig. 7) Wall II) hasan integral flap or extension 22 for securing the wallet in its foldedcondition as illustrated in Fig. 8, said flap 22 having as here shown asnap fastener member 24 releasably engageable with a companion snapfastener member 26 which is carried by wall I8 near the stitched edgeI4. The wallet is also provided with the pockets 28 and 38 at oppositesides, respectively, of the transverse median line of fold of thewallet. As here shown, wall I2 is common to the pockets 28 and 30 andprovides an inner wall of each of said pockets, the outer'walls of saidpockets being provided by pieces of material stitched to said wall I2.Pocket 28 is provided at one end thereof with an inwardly folded orgusset portion 32, as clearly illustrated in Fig. '7, to increase theexpansibility or capacity of said pocket in a direction normal to theplane of wall I2. Pocket 28 is provided with an opening 34 (Fig. 6)which may be closed by a flap 36 which as here shown is attached to wallI2 and is releasably secured to the outer wall of pocket 28 by a snapfastener comprising the companion snap fastener members 38 and 40.

In accordance with the present invention, a holder 42 for paper money orother papers is provided in association with the pocket 28. By comparingFigs. 1, 2 and 3 with each other, it will be seen that holder 42 ismovable from a position within pocket 28 as illustrated in Fig. 3 to aposi tion outside of said pocket, as illustrated in Fig. 2, that whenholder 42 is in pocket 28, said holder is folded and thereby reduced insize to fit within said pocket, and that when said holder is removedfrom said pocket, it may be unfolded to its flat or full-lengthcondition and inverted for convenience of accessto the contents of saidholder. As here shown the fold line of holder 42 is thetransverse'median line of the holder as indicated at 44 in Fig. 1, butit will be understood that it is Within the scope of the presentinvention to provide the fold line at a different point in thelongitudinal extent of said holder.

Holder 42 comprises two parts 46 and 48 which, as here shown, arestitched to each other at their adjacent longitudinal edges 50 bystitching 5|,

but which are otherwise separable from each other being in non-securedrelation at their adjacent edges 52 and 54, at both ends of the holderas well as at their adjacent longitudinal edges 58 and 58. While parts46 and 4B are shown joined to each other by stitching 5| at theirlongitudinal edges 50, it will be understood that said parts may be inone piece and folded at their edges 50. Holder 42, and more particularlypart 45 of said holder is provided with an integral lateral tab 60 whichis secured, as by stitching, to and under the strip 62 of the outer wallof pocket 28, said strip being integral with said wall and joinedthereto by the lateral end portion 63. It will be noted that tab 60 ofthe holder is positioned laterally of and adjacent to said portion 63.

Thus, while holder 42 is removable from pocket 28, it is preferablypermanently attached to said pocket by the tab fill which is secured tothe tapers in length when folded since the opposite end edges, whichconverge towardeacn other, in the unfolded condition of the holder asshown in Fig. 4, are at the same end of the holder when the latter isfolded as shown in Figs. '1, 3 and 7.

Thus pocket 28 need be only slightly larger than the folded holder andin such case, as shown, the folded edge 44 is adjacent one end of thepocket opening and the free edges of the holder, opposite said foldededge, are adjacent the oppositeend of the pocket opening. a

It will be noted that when holder 42 is within pocket 28, said holderdivides pocket 28 into a plurality of compartments, one of saidcompartments, indicated at 52, being between wall l2 and the confrontingpart of holder 42, another of said compartments, indicated atB4,'being'between the confronting-folded portions of holder 42, and yetanother of said compartments, indicatedat 66, being between theouterwall of pocket v flap 36 of the pocket 28 is closed. However, flap BS-may be omitted, within the scope of the present invention, and yet theopenings to compartments 62 and 64 may be closed. For this purpose asuitable closure device, here shown as a slide fas tener S (Fig, 3), isprovided. More specifically a slide fastener stringer 68 is secured bystitching 5| to a portion of the longitudinal edge 50 of holder 42 andextends to the line of fold indicated by the line 44a in Fig. 4. Acompanion slide fastener stringer ID-is secured by stitching between thestrip 62 of pocket 28 and the adjacent portion of wall 2. The slider forthe slide fastener S is indicated at 74. Thus, when the slide fastener Sis closed, the slider 14 being at the left of the stringers 68 and i5,viewing Fig. 3, the openings to compartments 62 and 54, through thepocket opening 34, are closed. On the other hand, when the slidefastener is open, the slider 14 being at the right of the stringers 68,and 10,-vrew-- ing Fig.3, the openings to said compartments 62 and 64,through pocket opening 34, are open so that access may be had to eitherof said compartments. Also it will be noted that when holder 42 ispositioned within pocket 28, the existence of the compartment within theholder itself is not apparent to one unfamiliar with the construction ofthe wallet, said holder having the appearance of a partitioning meansbetween the outer wall of pocket 28 and the confronting portion of wallI2 which as previously described provides the inner wall of said pocket.As indicated,

" the auxiliary billfold or holder 42 when unfolded of the pocket, theinsertion and removal ofthe money is easily accomplished. On the otherhand since the holder or auxiliary billfold 42 must be in its foldedcondition when it is in the pocket 28 and when it is being inserted inor removed from said pocket, the bills are automatically folded when theholder is folded and cannot be easily removed, if at all, unless theholder is removed from the pocket and opened out to its fiat condition,thus preventing theft or accidental loss unless the entire article isstolen or lost. Moreover, even if the wallet is stolen, the thief orfinder is not likely to be aware of-the true nature of holder 42 sinceto one unfamiliar with the construction of the wallet holder 42 appearstobe a partitioning means; so that in such circumstances the recovery ofthe wallet would result in the recovery of the contents of said holderor secret billfold.

The holder 42 is preferably provided as here shown with a strap 16 whichis positioned between parts 46 and 48 of said holder. Strip -16 issecured to one of said parts, here shown as-the part 46, only at theopposite ends of said strap as indicated at l8. As illustrated in Fig.6, paper money or other papers may be placed within holder 42 inposition between-partsdtiand 48"0f the holder so as to be covered bysaid parts,"an'd more specifically, said paper money or: other papersare preferably positioned between part 46 of the holder and strap 16 andfolded over said strap, preferably over the upper edge 86 thereof. InFig. 6, the longitudinal fold of the paper money or other papers isindicated at 82, while in Fig, 7, the transverse fold of the paper moneyor other papers is indicated at 84. It will be understood that parts 46and 48 of holder 42 are long'enough to cover the paper money or papersof about the same length and may also be wide enough to cover the papermoney or papers of about the same width as paper money without requiringfolding of "the paper money or other papers along a longiout substantialrisk of the paper money accidentally falling out of the holder 42 whenthe lat- .ter is removed from pocket 28.

It will be understood that thewalletmay'be made wholly or partly ofleather,in1itation leather, fabric, or combinations of such materials,

or of any other suitable materials or combinations of materials. Also,it will be understood that it is within the scope of the invention toapply the holder 42 in a pocket which need not be a pocket forming thepart of a larger wallet, but which can be a pocket complete in itself.Also it will be understood that the holder 42 can be embodied in thepocket of a fiat or non-foldable wallet or other container. Further, itwill be understood that various other changes in the details ofconstruction and in the arrangement of parts may be made withoutdeparting from the underlying idea Or principles of my invention withinthe scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is:

1. In a container having a pocket provided with an opening, a foldableholder for paper money or other papers movably positioned in said pocketand removable therefrom through said opening thereof, said holder beingfoldable along a transverse line and being in folded condition whenpositioned in said pocket and while being removed therefrom, said holderwhen removed from said pocket being unfoldable to a flat condition, saidholder comprising two parts joined at a longitudinally extending edge ofthe holder, said pocket and its opening being shorter than said holderwhen the latter is unfolded so that said holder must be folded in orderto be inserted in said pocket and can be unfolded only when removed fromsaid pocket, said fold line being transverse to said pocket opening andsaid longitudinally extending edge of the holder, said holder whenunfolded being at least as long as paper money but narrower than thelatter, and means in said holder between said parts thereof for retaininpaper money in the holder with such money folded longitudinally aboutsaid means as well as transversely at said fold line of said holder.

2. In a wallet having a pocket provided with an opening, a foldableholder for paper money or other papers movably positioned in said pocketand removable therefrom through said opening thereof, said holder beingfoldable along a transverse line and being in folded condition whenpositioned in said pocket and While being removed therefrom, said holderwhen removed from said pocket being unfoldable to a flat condition, saidholder when folded and positioned in said pocket having its line of foldor folded edge disposed adjacent one end of said opening transverselythereof and having its free ends disposed adjacent the opposite end ofsaid opening transversely thereto, said pocket and its opening beingshorter than said holder when the latter is unfolded so that said holdermust be folded in order to be inserted in said pocket and can beunfolded only when removed from said pocket, said fold line beingtransverse to said pocket opening and said longitudinally extending edgeof the holder, said holder comprising two walls joined at a longitudinaledge of the holder which is adjacent to and extends longitudinally ofsaid opening when the holder is positioned in said pocket, said wallsbeing unattached to each other at the opposite longitudinal edge of theholder thereby providing access to the contents of the holder when thelatter is removed from said pocket, and means including a slide fastenerstringer attached to said pocket at said opening and a companion slidefastener stringer attached to said holder only at the part of saidjoined edge at one side of said fold line for releasably securing saidholder in said pocket and for releasably closing said pocket opening atone side of said holder when the latter is in said pocket, said holderwhen unfolded being at least as long as paper money but shorter thanpaper money when the holder is folded.

SIMON KNEE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

